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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Below, some news and notes for Tuesday...

The Columbia Spectator argues that the Ivy League deserves more respect and writes in justifying the point, "we had the Cornell basketball run in March Madness back in 2010. That year, the Big Red became the first team from the Ancient Eight to make it to the Sweet 16 in over 30 years. Cornell captivated the country with unexpected wins over Temple and Wisconsin before ultimately falling to a first-seeded Kentucky in its third matchup."

The Columbia Spectator suggests that it takes a coach several seasons to build a winning program in the Ivy League and writes, "Last season, Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson took the Tigers to the Ivy League title in his fourth year with the program. Steve Donahue was in his 10th year at Cornell when he took the Big Red all the way to the Sweet 16 in 2010. This year, first-place Harvard’s Lord Voldemort—I mean, Tommy Amaker—is in his fifth year as head coach in Cambridge. James Jones has been in New Haven for a league-high 12 seasons, and Yale is 7-3."

Summing up Penn's weekend, the Daily Pennsylvanian writes, "After barely escaping the Palestra with a weekend sweep of Cornell and Columbia, the Quakers have positioned themselves for a huge weekend road trip against Dartmouth on Friday and first-place Harvard on Saturday. Here are some takeaways from former Sports Editor Kevin Esteves that will loom in the coming days: No givens in the Ivy League. Even though Penn dominated Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., back in January — holding the Big Red to just 37.5 percent shooting in a 64-52 win — it essentially meant nothing heading into Friday’s game. Cornell came ready to rock from the tip. Chris Wroblewski and Drew Ferry, who were held to just 12 combined points the last time around, dropped 14 and 17 points, respectively, to keep Cornell competitive...In the win against Cornell, Penn guard Miles Cartwright was absolutely locked in and that corner three is becoming his patented shot. Cartwright nailed five of six treys from basically the same spot on the floor and he didn’t hesitate one bit. "

The Star Ledger of New Jersey notes that Jeremy Lin was never really the talk of the Ivy League as a collegian and writes, "He finished fourth in the league in scoring (16.4 points per game) and second in assists (4.5) his senior year, but Harvard never did better than third in the conference. Other players stood out, including [Yale's] Zampier and the trio of Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote and Louis Dale that led Cornell to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and a Sweet 16 showing in 2010...There were, of course, moments of brilliance [for Lin]. He burst onto the national scene as a senior, scoring 30 points against UConn and 25 against Boston College. Lin was one of three Ivy Leaguers — along with Cornell teammates Wittman and Jeff Foote — chosen for the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational, a 64-player showcase held before the NBA Draft. Both [Sydney] Johnson and Yale coach James Jones said Lin wasn’t the best prospect coming out of the Ivy League in 2010. 'I would’ve thought that big Jeff Foote would’ve had the best chance just because he was a 7-footer,' Jones said. 'He’s got great hands, he’s got good footwork.' After a season with Israeli power Maccabi Tel Aviv, Foote accompanied Wittman to play in Poland in August. But Wittman was cut in October, and Foote returned to the states with him. The 6-7 Wittman, the 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year with unlimited range, whose father Randy is the interim head coach of the Washington Wizards, decided to move on from professional basketball and is now working at Morgan Stanley. Foote joined the Springfield Armor of the NBA Developmental League where he is averaging 14.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and is an All-Star selection this season. The pay is significantly lower than in Europe, but the competition is stiffer and the scouts more prevalent. And then there is Louis Dale, the 2008 Ivy League Player of the Year as a sophomore and considered the league’s best point guard for three seasons. Not even 26 points against Wisconsin, 21 against Temple and 17 against Kentucky in the 2010 NCAA Tournament was enough to overcome concerns over his 5-11 stature. Dale’s spent the last two seasons with Göettingen in Germany’s first league. He’s currently rehabbing a torn left ACL he suffered in late November. Just as Lin’s sudden emergence, from 12th man to star, is an example of the fine line in evaluating talent, so is one’s chance of simply getting the opportunity. 'That’s life,' Dale said from Germany. 'It definitely hurt when I didn’t get any opportunities, but I don’t dwell on it. I’m not discouraged; there are plenty of people in the NBA who have had ACL injuries.' ...For now, Lin’s former Ivy League competition is rooting for him, in awe, along with everyone else. They can only hope his success will open doors for other Ivy Leaguers. 'It can’t hurt,' Dale said. 'Maybe not everyone will think Lin was an Ivy League guy maybe we should give this guy a chance but I think some people — scouts or general managers or whoever — will think about it.'"

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Previewing the WPIAL playoffs, the Pittsburgh Tribune writes, "Kiski Area knows it likely will have to contain [Nolan] Cressler to avoid getting bounced in the first round. A Cornell recruit, Cressler eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the first game against Kiski Area. He's added 488 points since to give him a school-record 1,510. He's second in the WPIAL in scoring (25.6 ppg) to Highlands' star guard Micah Mason (29.1). A high-scoring senior season has been defined by 'junk' defenses for Mason and his ability to overcome them. But Cressler also has seen his share of exotic schemes. 'Teams have mixed it up a lot on me this year,' Cressler said. 'There have been a lot of box-and-1s and triangle-and-2s. I have been face-guarded every game... 'They have a dynamic scorer in (Cressler),' Kiski Area coach Harry Rideout said. 'We went with a matchup on him before. We'll have to look at some things and see what works best this time.'" Pittsburgh Tribune's preview capsule notes:

Notable: Kiski Area finished third in Section 1-AAAA but won four of its final five section games. The Cavaliers own one win over Plum this season. The Cavaliers hit nine 3-pointers, including seven in the first 10 minutes of the game in a 52-47 win over Plum in a nonsection game Dec. 13. The second meeting will match similar, guard-oriented teams. Kiski Area has three players averaging double figures in scoring — junior guard Nick Stone (15.2 ppg), Robison (12.4) and senior point guard Alex Lamendola (11.1). ... Plum relies heavily on Cressler (25.6 ppg). But the Cornell recruit gets help regularly from a role-playing cast of guards. That includes seniors Tarique Ellis and Anthony Garofalo, and junior Griffin Myers. Two of Plum's most defining wins of the season have come in the past week. It defeated ranked teams Woodland Hills and Gateway in eight days' time, following a three-point loss to McKeesport (11-10), a team looking to upset No. 1 Shaler (20-2) in the first round.

Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of February 21 is No. 191 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 187 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 196 Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

Throughout the year we provide periodic updates on Cornell's alumni playing professionally. Below, some updates:

-Jeff Aubry ('99) (Halcones Rojos, LNBP Mexico premier league/Arecibo Capitanes, BSN Puerto Rico premier league)-As of February 21, in Mexico, Aubry averaged 5.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as Halcones captured the league championship with a dominating 4-1 finals series win over Toros. Halcones finished the the regular season 34-6 and in 1st place out of 14 teams in the Mexican LNBP. Aubry, a 6'11" center, splits his time in both the Mexican and Puerto Rican professional leagues. He is also a member of Puerto Rico's national team joining several NBA stars. A well traveled pro player, Aubry spent several seasons in the NBA D League in the early part of his career with the Fayetteville Patriots and Florida Flame and earned honorable mention all D-League in 2002. During his more than a decade of pro experience, Aubry has also played professionally in the ABA (Miami Tropics) and abroad in Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Leones de Ponce, and Santurce, BSN Puerto Rico), Spain (Tarragona, LEB Gold Spain 2nd Division), Mexico (Halcones Rojos and Chihuahua Dorados, LNBP Mexico premier league), Poland (Slask Wroclaw, PLK Poland premier league), Argentina (Libertad Sunchales, Liga A Argentina), Uruguay (Hebraica, LUB Uruguay )and Peru (Alas Peruanas, Peru).

-Jason Hartford ('08) (Unsigned free agent)-As of February 21, Hartford is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season. He was cut during the week of October 17 by Cader Rocha, LUB Uruguay premier league and is now a free agent. He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, second on the team in both categories. The 6'9" Hartford previously played professionally in Portugal (Ginasio, LCB Portugal premier league), Finland (Huima, Korisliiga Finland premier league) and Mozambique (Maxaquene, D1 Mozambique premier league).

-Louis Dale ('10) (Goettingen, BBK Bundesliga Germany premier league)-As of February 21, Dale is out for the season with a torn ACL. He was averaging 11.9 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game before the injury. Dale is in his second professional season, both seasons in Germany with Goettingen.

-Ryan Wittman ('10) (Unsigned free agent)-As of February 21, Wittman is unsigned for the 2011-2012 season after he terminated his contract on September 26 with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league. He played the 2010-2011 season in Italy (Forli, LegaDue Italy 2nd division) and in the United States (Fort Wayne Mad Ants, NBA D-League).

-Jeff Foote ('10) (Springfield Armor, NBA D-League)-As of February 21, Foote is averaging 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 56% from the floor in the D-League. He participated in the Portland Trailblazers' 2011-2012 training camp. Springfield is 21-13 (2nd place out of 8 teams in the Eastern Conference). He played the 2011-2012 preseason with with Zastal of the PLK Poland premier league and the full 2010-2011 season in Spain (Melilla, LEB Gold Spain 2nd division) while on loan from Euro League powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

-Adam Wire ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of February 21, Wire is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.9 assists per game. On November 4, 2011 he was named the Eurobasket Player of the Week for Denmark. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

-Aaron Osgood ('11) (Unsigned free agent)-As of February 21, Osgood is an unsigned free agent. He was waived by Vaerlose, Denmark BBK premier league during December. He was averaging 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The 2011-2012 season is his rookie year.

15 comments:

CBB, I followed your comments on Twitter about the Academic Index over the weekend. I was surprised to read that you are so adamantly against the AI.

I am not defending the specifics of the system, but I support the principle of some academic threshold for athletic recruits. Since you are the number one fan of Cornell men's basketball, I would expect you to agree.

Harvard has demonstrated that it has made a commitment to winning in men's basketball at all costs. The Crimson hired a coach out of two BCS programs and currently pay him at least twice what any other Ivy team pays its coach, probably a multiple of three or four.

More importantly, Harvard routinely recruits right down to the league minimum AI score, creating the Crimson's most important advantage in the conference. If the AI were eliminated, there would be no floor to how low Harvard would go academically. The Crimson roster would quickly look like a Big East roster.

There is very little keeping Harvard from violating every single precept of Ivy League athletics. The AI ain't much, but it's all we got, man.

Agree. I think we're all happy to hear that the Nets think highly of Foote, and it'll certainly be a sense of pride for Cornellians to have an NBA player in the league. Who knows, maybe it could even help with recruiting.

I don't think the AI helps the Ivy League reputation. I look at Duke, Stanford, Vandy and Northwestern and see schools that have maintained outstanding academic reputations while competing nationally in all sports.

Within the league, I don't see the AI helping maintain league balance. Each school should make its own decision who it can admit.

I think there is a mystique to the Ivy League that none of those other schools can touch, even though they are fine institutions. League-wide standards are what keep the Ivy League in Ivy. Cornell is really the outlier of the group with its almost Big Ten-like size and public/private college system. Ask Northwestern basketball how they like being in the Big Ten (never won anything and never been to the tourney). That's how it would be for the smaller Ivy schools. Students attend the Ivy's, not professionals-in-waiting.

There were five charter members of the EIBL, HYP Cornell and Columbia.

The Academic Index was instituted in the early 1980's because of suspicions in the League that the powerhouse Penn basketball teams of the 1970's were academically weaker than was appropriate. (The 1979 Quaker squad reached the Final Four.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, William G. Bowen, the president of Princeton (Penn's chief rival in men's basketball) devised the AI system and successfully pushed for its adoption.

Today, Harvard fills the role occupied by Penn in the 1970's. In the absence of the AI, Harvard would lead this conference in a race to the bottom academically.

I did not know that Columbia was not present at the first organizational meeting of the EIBL. But the Lions were league members in time for the first season of 1901-02 and have been in the conference continuously since then, winning twice the number of EIBL/Ivy championships that Cornell has.

True, but Columbia has also been somewhat irrelevant in Ivy League basketball since the 1960s. Maybe the Lions get back up on top, but Ivy Championships have been zilch the last four decades for the baby blue.

Like you say, CBB, not totally irrelevant. Columbia had a nice run in the late 1970's during and just after the Penders years.

Led by Alton Byrd, the Lions finished second behind Penn's Final Four team and were the league team that caused Price and company to finish 13-1. They also finished second to Penn in 1977-78, the year that Penders left for Fordham.

All that is needed for this AI Stuff is for the Ivy Presidents to put basketball into its own AI band, just as they did some years ago for football.

Currently, all non-football sports are lumped together in one big AI grouping. When an AD decides to go all out in one non-football sport, he/she can do it at the expense of all the other non-football sports.

That Scalise is the first AD in the 30+yrs of the AI to decide to stoop to this level for basketball, speaks to the integrity of a whole generation of Ivy AD's.

It's inappropriate to say that Harvard now occupies the same relative role in basketball that Penn occupied in the 1970's. Penn's league record for the 1970's was 127-13 with eight league titles. Harvard has not even been to one NCAA tournament yet.

Let's wait a week or so before we recommend that the Ivy Presidents put the basketball-only AI idea to a vote. But let's all think about it.

wow, whoever that last anon was that was super informative. Thanks. Columbia thing reminded me of Jim McMillian, a very good NBA player with the Buffalo Braves during their glory years - a Columbia product. He led them to NCAA's and 6th in nation ranking in 1968.